Leonard Adler, the CEO of the Green Jobs Network, is introduced as the speaker, with a background in law and public policy, focusing on green and climate job sectors. Leonard encourages self-care during the session due to the emotional impact of discussing trauma-related topics. The webinar aims to provide an introduction to trauma-informed workplaces and psychological safety, with a focus on the legal profession. Leonard outlines the session's structure, covering trauma, trauma-informed organizations, psychological safety, and their relevance to the legal profession. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their workplace experiences related to trauma and psychological safety. Leonard emphasizes the importance of understanding trauma and psychological safety to become healthier and more effective as individuals and organizations.

Leonard discusses the growing attention to workplace mental health and its connection to organizational effectiveness, highlighting the positive impact of addressing these issues. He cites a survey indicating a crisis in mental health and substance abuse within the legal profession. Leonard notes initiatives like lawyer assistance programs that aim to address these challenges, though more work is needed. He mentions a poll by the American Psychological Association showing younger workers feeling stressed and undervalued, prompting companies to take action. Leonard introduces the concept of trauma, explaining it as an overwhelming experience that surpasses one's capacity to process it. He outlines the three Es of trauma: event, experience, and effects, emphasizing the wide range of events that can be traumatic. Leonard explains trauma responses, such as fight, flee, freeze, or fawn, and how they can persist even after the traumatic event has passed.

Leonard explains complex trauma, which involves repeated traumas over time, and introduces the concept of complex PTSD. He discusses adverse childhood experiences and secondary trauma, highlighting their long-term health impacts as well as vicarious trauma. Leonard defines a trauma-informed organization as one that understands trauma and works to mitigate its effects on employees and clients. He emphasizes the importance of preventing retraumatization within trauma-informed organizations. Leonard introduces a shift in perspective from asking "What's wrong with someone?" to "What happened to someone?" as a key element of trauma-informed practices. He illustrates this shift with an example of a supervisor using a trauma-informed lens to understand an employee's reaction to feedback. Leonard outlines elements of a trauma-informed workplace, including safety, trust, transparency, peer support, and responsiveness to individual experiences.

Leonard discusses psychological safety, defining it as the absence of interpersonal fear, which enables individuals to perform their best. He emphasizes the importance of creating a workplace environment where people feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences. Leonard highlights the benefits of psychological safety, such as fostering open communication and innovation within organizations. He references Dr. Edmondson's research on psychological safety, noting its significance in team effectiveness and organizational culture. Leonard shares Google's Project Aristotle findings, which identified psychological safety as a key dynamic for effective teams. He provides an example of psychological safety in action, where an employee feels comfortable pointing out a mistake, saving the organization money. Leonard outlines actions leaders and employees can take to foster psychological safety, such as prioritizing it, encouraging contributions, and establishing norms for handling failures.

Leonard discusses the intersection of the legal profession and trauma, noting the challenges faced by legal professionals and clients. He highlights the growing traction of trauma-informed approaches within the legal system, including bar associations and law schools. Leonard emphasizes the importance of addressing stress and trauma-related challenges specific to the legal profession. He introduces the concept of trauma-informed lawyering, which integrates awareness of trauma into legal practice to promote safety and trust with clients. Leonard shares positive developments in the judicial court system and legal education, such as trauma-informed training for judges. He mentions resources available for legal professionals to become trauma-informed, including podcasts and training programs. Leonard concludes the session by encouraging reflection and providing access to a resource library for further exploration of trauma-informed practices.